1. Field of the Invention
This invention belongs to the field of synthetic organic chemistry, and provides a particularly advantageous process for preparing certain phenylalkanoic acids from the corresponding benzaldehydes or phenyl ketones. The process provides the desired acids in high yield and acceptable purity without isolation of intermediate products.
2. State of the Art
The individual steps of the process of this invention are similar to process steps which have been carried out in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,146, of Wiegand, shows the conversion of a dimethylaminomethyl compound to an acetonitrile. Rylander, Catalytic Hydrogenation over Platinum Metals, Academic Press, New York, 1967, discusses reductions of aldehydes and ketones at length, especially at pp. 246-49, 274-84, and 292-302. An article by Short et al., Tetrahedron 29, 1931-39 (1973) shows the reductive amination of a substituted benzaldehyde to the corresponding alkylaminomethyl compound, and the subsequent conversion of that compound to the corresponding acetonitrile.